Workplace Violence Survey

The California Safe Care Standard campaign has a survey going on right now that is gathering data about workplace violence in the healthcare industry in California. The survey is critical because it identifies the scope of the problem, the specific types of violence that healthcare providers face, the frequency of the violence, and what respondents want to see in a Cal/OSHA standard to address the problem of violence on the job.

While the survey is ongoing, we thought it would be good to share some of the data it has yielded so far:

In response to the question, “Have you ever seen or experienced a violent incident, assault, or threatening behavior at work?” 95% of the respondents said “yes.”

Of those who responded “yes” to the previous question, 63% said that that involved physical assault (kicking, punching, spitting, biting, pushing, pulling, cutting, stabbing); 76% said that that involved emotional assault (bullying, manipulation, intimidation); 32% said that that involved sexual assault (harassment, stalking, unwanted contact); and 86% said that that involved verbal assault (threats, blaming, name-calling).

The majority of respondents reported seeing or experiencing workplace violence 1-3 times a month.

We will be presenting the survey results when we petition Cal/OSHA for a Healthcare Provider Workplace Violence Prevention Standard, so it is important that you take the survey if you are a healthcare worker and get your voice heard around the issue of workplace violence. The survey is anonymous and only takes a few minutes to complete. There is room for comments – you can be as brief or share as much as you want. After you’ve taken it, be sure to forward it to your co-workers.